Next To Us
by Shortcake99
Summary: Some people are right next to you, others are across the world. And the lucky ones are closer than the rest, buried deep in your heart. Dotty.


Summary: Some people are right next to you, others are across the world. And the lucky ones are closer than the rest, buried deep in your heart. Dotty.

She had been lying in the same position for the last hour and had yet to feel the slightest hint that sleep would soon overcome her. Beside her Dom was sleeping, his light snores saving her from complete and utter silence. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she turned her head towards Dom. She wished he would just shut up. He only ever snored when he laid on his stomach which was a rare occurrence. Normally, he would be laying on his back with Letty cuddled to her side. But not tonight. They had had a small fight that evening, one that had left Letty stalking upstairs and pretending to be asleep for the three hours it took Dom to go to bed and for his snores to begin.

Although she supposed she should not be angry, after all, he was only sticking up for his friend. Despite the fact that it had been a stupid fight, it had still struck a nerve.

_It had been the typical Sunday. A family barbecue in the all year round Californian sun. The chicken was on the grill and several Coronas were keeping cool in ice buckets that were dotted around the garden. Mia was inside the kitchen adding a healthy element to the barbecue in the form of a salad. Her knife chopped down through a pepper and onto her chopping board as Vince darted through the kitchen._

"_Hey Mi. Have you got that fish parcel thing you wanted cooked?" Vince asked as he snatched a handful of nuts from a dish on the side. _

"_Yeah, in the fridge. Third shelf down," Mia replied, continuing to chop. During one of her health classes at college, Mia's friend had told her about barbecuing fish. Apparently, it was a 'must try'._

"_Is it this one?" Vince asked as he held up a long, tin foiled parcel._

"_That one," Mia confirmed. _

"_Dom says chicken's good in about five or ten minutes."_

"_That's fine, the fish should be done by then."_

"_Aight."_

_As Vince went through the back door into the garden, Letty came through in the other direction. Vince gave Letty a small head nod as acknowledgement before heading of towards Dom and the barbecue. The garden had already developed a spicy aroma and Vince had to hold in his impending stomach rumble. Inside the kitchen, Mia was defending her salad from Letty's sniping fingers. After being outside for the last ten minutes, the smells were getting to the petite Latina and she was wishing for any kind of food. That included the salad that had been previously regarded as something that should be given to a rabbit. _

"_Letty, stop it. It isn't just for you. Anyway, you don't even like salad," Mia said as she removed the bowl from within Letty's reach to the other counter._

"_Mia, I am so hungry you don't even understand. I had to run into the garage this morning to finish off an engine and the paperwork for a car being picked up first thing tomorrow. All I have eaten today is a cookie and one of your carrot sticks," Letty half ranted._

"_Dinner will be ready soon, don't worry. You'll get fed," Mia assured Letty._

"_I am worrying, I need food, pronto."_

"_I think you're starting to exaggerate now," Mia said whilst rolling her eyes._

"_Nu uh, Mia. You try standing out there when you haven't eaten all day and not being able to touch anything. You try doing that."_

"_You just said you ate a cookie," Mia fired back while concealing a grin. It was always fun to wind Letty up._

"_It was the size of a cent. But either way, I am still starving hungry and you depriving me of food isn't helping," Letty told Mia before darting behind the younger girl and grabbing a handful of salad and stuffing it into her mouth._

"_You are impossible," Mia muttered as she followed Letty outside with the salad bowl in her hands. _

_On the other side of the garden, Dom was putting the finishing touches on the meat. Giving the chicken one last turn before it was ready, he took a swig form his Corona. A pair of arms weaved themselves around his waist and as her familiar scent hit his nose, he leaned back into her hold. Letty reached up and pressed a kiss to te back of Dom's neck. Her hand grabbed Dom's Corona and he gave it to her, hearing Letty take a long gulp as he plated the contents of the barbecue onto a dish that Mia had given him earlier. _

"_Come on," Dom's gravelly voice was comforting. "Grub's up."_

_Mia had set up the table with all the different condiments you could ever want and imagine. The salad had been strategically placed next to Mia's place and she had grabbed enough cutlery for the group. Pre-cut and buttered finger rolls and burger buns were gathered together next to the space that had been saved for the meat. An ice bucket filled with Coronas had made itself comfortable at the end of the table and they were all ready to go. Jesse and Leon were already sat at the table as Mia added napkins to the impressive spread. Dom and Letty followed Mia and Vince's lead as they sat down._

"_I'm not taking first," Leon insisted as he eyed up the food._

"_Me neither," Jesse agreed. Neither of the men wanted to be the one to say Grace._

_It had been tradition for a long time that the first one to take food from the table had to say Grace. Tony Toretto had started it years ago and him and his wife had encouraged their children to carry on the tradition. After both his parents had died, Dom had taken it upon himself to carry on the ritual, only allowing the people who would abide by the rule to eat. Whilst Jesse and Leon were not the most active participators, they did it when they had to. But by the looks of things, they would be sitting there for a while until somebody took the plunge. _

"_Right, okay. I can't stand it anymore," Dom said as he reached out and took a piece of chicken. "Dear God, thank you for family, for friends and for good meals. Thank you for love and friendship. Amen."_

"_Amen."_

_After Dom's mini-speech, the gang dug into the food. Hands fought over the biggest bits of chicken and warning glares were given out. Mia had no worries over the invasion of her salad, all eyes were on the meat, her salad was all hers. The Coronas kept flowing and the conversation was going the same way and the time was quickly passing. As the last few scraps were eaten and bones were stripped bare, the clock's hands had passed two hours. Mia stood up from her seat and started to grab plates, Letty jumped up to help her gather the contents of the table. _

"_I'll help with this Mi. I'll grab the plates," Letty offered as she took Dom's plate from in front of him._

"_Thanks Lett. It was nice for the rest of you to offer to help," Mia said as the boys all shot her wide and sloppy grins._

"_We would help but we'd just get in your way," Leon said._

"_And then you'd shout at us," Vince added._

"_And then we'd all be sad," Jesse said as his bottom lip started to poke out and his eyes became slightly glassy._

_Mia gave them a disapproving look before following Letty into the kitchen with an armful of plates. The two girls continued to clear the garden and start on the washing up as the boys relocated into the living room. The television was soon switched on with a movie being the main attraction. Mia washed as Letty wiped and put them away, essentially restocking the kitchen cupboards before they joined the rest of the gang in the living room in front of the movie. Letty settled next to Dom with Mia squeezing in beside Jesse and Leon._

_The film was fairly old and was based on the true story of a soldier in the Vietnam War. It was a wannabe Forrest Gump and despite the fact that it would never get the critical acclaim that the Tom Hanks movie received, it was a decent watch. While the movie showed a fair few battle wounds and the graphic injuries that made Mia wince, the film carried a small romance. A young man, subscribed to the war and his childhood sweetheart, currently pregnant with their first child. _

"_I don't think I can watch this," Mia whispered while hiding her face in Leon's shoulder. She was always up for a good romance but mixed in with gore and violence? No._

"_Go upstairs then," Leon whispered whilst keeping his eyes glued to the screen._

"_No, I want to see if they get married," Mia insisted._

"_Shh then."_

_The gang sat in silence until the film finished, Mia still glued to Leon's side until the very last moment. The final scene was the couple walking together, hand in hand as their young child ran laughing behind them. An empty Corona bottle sat beside each of them, no one willing to get up and miss a minute of the film to replace them. Vince let out a standard burp and received the standard glare from Mia. Her displeasure well written on her face. _

"_Vince, that is disgusting."_

"_I don't know why you get so uptight about it. It's natural."_

"_No, it's not. That is the worst thing to do after a movie like that," Mia said, still shooting disapproving looks in Vince's direction._

"_Mia, it's just a movie," Vince replied._

"_Did you not read the 'this is based on a true story' memo at the beginning?"Mia said. "Obviously not," as she saw the blank look on Vince's face._

"_I just find the whole romance thing a little over the top. He went to the army. She didn't need to cry about it."_

"_For God's sake Vince, when are you going to become a little more sympathetic? The love of her life just left, and she's alone and pregnant. Not to mention hormones," Mia rattled off._

"_Yeah, he left but still. He sent money home to her and their kid, sent letters and postcards. What more could they possibly want? It was a war for God's sake. What else were they expecting?" By the time Vince had finished, the room was silent and Jesse was shooting quick glances in Letty's direction._

_Vince had just managed to describe Letty's life._

_Her home life had been stable. Her mother was part time nurse at the local hospital and had attended every parent's evening, award ceremony and important date supplied by the school. Her mother had never been restricting, yet had laid down a few ground rules when Letty started dating Dom but they had relaxed as time went on. The only absence had been her father. He had been in the army and just as Vince had explained, he had been absent for most of her life. He had tried his hardest to get home whenever he could but it barely happened and when he did return, it was only for a short period. Letty and her mum relied on letters and postcards._

"_Oh come on, Letty doesn't mind do you, Lett?" Vince joked, taking a swig from his new Corona. _

"_Doesn't she?" Letty interjected before anyone else could give their opinion. _

"_Come on, Lett. He's only joking," said Dom, mimicking Vince and taking a swig from his Corona._

"_Alright then, Dominic. As long as he's only joking," Letty shot out with venom. _

_Letty stood out of her chair and picked up her empty bottle. Taking it to the kitchen, she paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. It was not her father's fault that he had to spend so long away from his family. He supported them, made sure that they had everything they needed and made sure that Letty got the best upbringing she could possibly have. And even when he managed to come home, he made sure that Letty was spoiled. Days out, new car parts, family outings. Although Vince had only been trying to prove a point and had not directly aimed the context at her, it had hurt. _

_So she just needed a couple of hours to digest it, lock it up and carry on._

_Letty stalked through the living room and up the stairs, taking them two at a time as she walked into her and Dom's room. Making herself comfortable, she pulled out a car magazine that had been chucked onto the cabinet and began to flick through. Taking notes as she went, Letty listened out for the impending sound of Dom's heavy stomps. But listening out for the stomps, made her miss Mia's dainty steps and was surprised when Mia poked her head through the door._

"_Are you alright Lett?" Mia asked as she took a seat on the bed._

"_I'm good, just need some Letty time, you know?"_

"_Yeah. I'll see you in the morning?"_

"_Don't worry, I won't do a runner."_

That had been the last conversation she had had before she had retired for the night. Well, faked retire. When Dom had come up to bed, he had seen Letty's still figure and assumed that she had fallen asleep whilst he was downstairs with the boys. Yet now she was fully awake, as she had been for the last two hours as Dom lay beside her. Moving slightly and edging towards the end of the bed, an arm weaved its way around her waist, pulling her back into the bed and up tight against a rock hard chest which sported well defined abs.

"Where are you going?" Dom asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

"To the kitchen," Letty replied, trying to shrug Dom's arm off her.

"What for?"

"God, do I need your permission for everything?" Letty ranted.

"That's a little unfair. Is this still about earlier?"

"No, I thought I'd be angry at you from last week," Letty said sarcastically. "Yes, I am still angry at you from earlier."

"It was only a joke."

"To you maybe. But to me, it's a whole lot more." Letty said.

"I'm sorry. We took it too far and I should have realised that you weren't happy with the situation and-"

"You can stop now," Letty said, a small smile emerging on her face. "I've got you next to me, I'm next to you."

"We're next to us."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Whatever, seriously Lett,"

"Dom, stop. It's fine, I'm over it now. I was just being a little dramatic and over-sensitive."

"Over-sensitive? I thought you didn't do emotions," Dom teased as the room's atmosphere became lighter and less tense.

"Shut up and kiss me," Letty ordered.

"Yes Ma'am."

A/N- I was listening to Beyonce's Pretty Hurts for my media essay and it sprung from there. It was going to be a lot different but it was starting to turn out a lot like Words Are A Deadly Weapon so that stopped. I was also reading a forum about how Dom is also painted as the one in the wrong so I tried to twist it a little bit. Don't forget to review on your way out :)


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